Presenter: Ryan Vandermeulen (NASA)

Description:
NASA’s Geostationary Littoral Imaging and Monitoring Radiometer (GLIMR) is slated to launch after 2026, offering high fidelity and high frequency radiometric measurements of ocean color, targeting the Gulf of Mexico and other coastal and ocean waters of North and South America. A novel combination of hyperspectral (UV – NIR), increased spatial resolution (300-m nadir), and frequent temporal (6x/day) observations of the coastal environment will offer an unprecedented opportunity to study ocean processes at the combined, synergistic scales required to observe the dynamic ecological, biogeochemical and physical processes typical of coastal and ocean waters. Given its unique spatial and temporal resolution, GLIMR will be highly complementary to future low-Earth orbit satellite missions, such as PACE and SBG. Using simulated measurements relevant to GLIMR-specific orbital geometries, we’ll take you on a tour of a typical “day in the life” of what GLIMR will look like, including details of the primary science scans, vicarious and cross-calibration opportunities, deep space observations, as well as the configurability for the instrument to respond to episodic events and hazards in near real-time. The sampling plan for GLIMR is constrained by the satellite’s orbital position, the sensor viewing angle relative to various locations on Earth, and the associated variation in solar zenith angle with local time of day, all of which ultimately determine how much light is available at a given time and location. Using this information we can calculate an index of the total atmospheric contribution to the top of the atmosphere radiances, which informs when, where, and how we sample around the observable Earth disk. We’ll discuss how we will adaptively optimize our data coverage throughout the year, as well as report on efforts to schedule concordant overlap with complementary space-borne ocean color observations.